Two teenagers, one adult charged in dating app robbery

Three people are accused of stealing a car from a man they met on the dating app Grindr.

Author:
Grady Trimble

Published:
6:23 PM EDT May 8, 2017

LAKELAND, Fla. (WTSP) -- Two juveniles and an adult have been charged with kidnapping, robbery with a deadly weapon and grand theft after detectives said they held a man up with a knife and stole his car, wallet and phone.

The victim had arranged to meet up with Austin Fenimore, Wyatt Davis and Dalton Obermark on the dating app Grindr. Davis and Obermark are minors, but are being charged as adults.

The victim met the three other guys outside and abandoned house. He took them to a gas station, where two of them got soda. Then, detectives said the victim dropped them back off at the house and left.

The story could've ended there, but investigators said the victim messaged one of them again to meet up with him.

“Our victim is not like a Rhodes scholar here,” Sheriff Grady Judd said. “He didn't deserve to be robbed or his vehicle stolen from him, regardless of his IQ.”

The victim spoke to 10News, but asked us not to show his face or use his name.

“Please don't kill me,” he begged the alleged attackers.

Detectives say they caught up with the trio and found the stolen car in Illinois.

Judd said this is yet another reminder to be careful on dating apps, if you're going to use them at all. He recommended meeting at a restaurant, a store or somewhere else with a lot of people around to get to know the person first.

“He needs to survive that this is a life lesson that he survived with his body intact,” he explained.